


Mean More to You

by dreadwyrmspawn



Series: FFXIV Write 2019 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff to Angst, M/M, Male Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 12:31:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20564384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadwyrmspawn/pseuds/dreadwyrmspawn
Summary: They never had time to themselves, even back on the Source. A world teetering on the brink of a calamity would be far less kind with its time.Prompt #3 Lost fill for#FFXIVWrite2019





	Mean More to You

**Author's Note:**

> Shadowbrigers spoilers.
> 
> Rua'a follows after Thancred when he leaves angry at Y'shtola for exposing too much in front of Mini-filia.

“If you’ll excuse me.” Thancred’s words were curt, short angry punctures. In an instant Rua’a found his heart wretched from his chest as he watched Thancred retreat from Y’shtola’s quarters. 

His soul and body torn in two; the logic knowing he must stay as the Warrior of Light, but the soul wanted to only follow after his angered lover. How long was this frustration boiling inside Thancred? The pain of not being able to say goodbye on his own terms, that feeling was an old enemy to Rua’a.

Thancred needed him, even if he did not want it.

“It will be fine, Fox,” he felt a gentle touch on his forearm pulling him back into reality. R’hiyo’s eyes were gentle and warm. She always knew. “I’ll help the Night’s Blessed. Go find him.”

Rua’a nodded, his feet no longer feeling like anchors to the ground. He turned to follow Thancred.

As he crossed the threshold to the outside he heard Minfillia, the other Minfillia, mutter, “Thancred always spoke so fondly of him. Like he did about Her, but also different at the same time.”

Bless his keen hearing as he felt a knot forming in his throat. A weight of his own anxieties melted away before finding Thancred. They never had time to themselves, even back on the Source. A world teetering on the brink of a calamity would be far less kind with its time.

Outside of Slitherbough the trees towered into a canopy that shielded the forest floor from the everlasting light. The trees were far too large and numerous. If Thancred did not want to be found it would be near impossible in this tangled maze. His hearing would do him little good, a thief’s footsteps were much quieter than a young girl’s gossip.

Sapphire Carbuncle summoned next to him as he began to walk through the forest. “I need your help, darling,” Rua’a said as he bent down to pet her head, “if anyone can find him it’s you.”

Carbuncle bounded through the forest with determination. The trees twisted behind him as the pair stepped off the trail. “Hells,” Rua’a cursed under his breath. The forest became more unwelcoming with each new step. After wandering enough to be lost, the two had finally found a clearing, the trees themselves fallen in what appeared to be a fight. Sin eaters? A dying forest on a dying star. Rua’a wondered if this fight was even worth it. No one should try to outrun their own death. Least of all him.

“There is no sport in deception if one cheats with magic.” Thancred teased, his tone more lighthearted than Rua’a expected. The ill thoughts faded away as he saw Thancred appear from the shadows of the fallen trees.

“It was not cheating!” Rua’a defended himself as he walked toward Thancred, “I was just using all of my skills available to me, as were you. Mine happens to be far superior.”

Thancred rolled his eyes as he welcomed Rua’a into an embrace all the same. The familiarity of the strong hold, the home he never left squashing his own fears of the future. The calamitous star yielding for one brief moment.

“Gods. Fox,” The embrace only tightened as his voice broke instead. Rua’a could not see his face, but he did not have to. He knew there were tears before he felt them fall into his hair. The side of Thancred very few were privy. Not even the scions were allowed to see a vulnerable heart beneath the sarcasm and false bravado. Y’shtola was smart, that’s why she always prodded the concealed truth. But this was not for her to see. Only in a clearing away from the hamlet did Thancred feel safe enough to let his guard down. In the company of the one who held his heart was it allowed to breathe.

“I feared I lost you for good,” Rua’a muttered into Thancred’s chestplate as his hands found purchase in the leather coat. Weeks on weeks by Thancred’s soulless body on the Source. The body may not be aging but Thancred’s soul was another five years older. More pain and resentment building in an already tired soul. A few silent curses tumbled from Rua’a’s thoughts. 

He freed Thancred’s coat from his death grip and pushed himself out of the embrace. He tilted his head to catch the relief washing across hazel eyes. “Who would have figured my terrible luck would return at least one of you to me.” Thancred reached out, his hand cupping the side of Rua’a’s face. His head tilted into the touch as fingers worked their way to rub behind his ears. He hummed approval, encouraging the ministrations to continue. It was a chance for him to be selfish, steering away from Minfilia and any mention of her fate.

“You did not have to come find me, I just needed time to think,” Thancred’s free hand wandered down his spine, fingers wrapping around the base of his tail, “but I am full glad that you did.”

Rua'a straightened, his hand stilling Thancred's before it got away from them both. "Listen to me," a gentle smile slipped onto his face as he laced their fingers together, "I am here for you. There is no need to run or hide from me, you know this."

Thancred nodded, "I am aware. But I am also aware about how much pain she causes—" 

"Enough. Minfilia is not here. I'm not going to place any ill thoughts between us on this child. And frankly you shouldn't be either."

Thancred ripped his hands away and stalked off into the clearing. None of this was what he wanted to hear, least of all from Rua'a. 

“I know you don’t want to be lectured,” Rua’a offered as an apology. Thancred’s shoulders tensed, and Rua’a’s only wish to rewind time and take his words back. Oh, if life were only that simple. 

“Then don’t,” Thancred was curt again, the defensive walls thrown back up in spite of his company.

Rua’a groaned, and his fists angrily balled at his sides. A stray thought wanted the calamity to trigger in that moment, to save him from another argument, losing even more time with the one he loved.

“I know that it hurts, Gods I know more than anyone what it feels like!” A decade had passed since the calamity stole his only family from him. The pain still sat raw in his soul, burning hot turmoil that would never heal. “So do not stand there and act like you are the one to feel this way!”

Thancred’s eyes widened, dawning on him all too slowly that Rua’a’s loss mirrored his own. 

“Fox, I—”

Thancred’s attempts at an apology fell on deaf ears as Rua’a left without another word. He could do nothing but watch, anchored in place as Rua’a disappeared into the twisted trees, both of their hearts left abandoned on the forest floor.


End file.
